Slacktivism
made by Brooke Warner 'Overview' Slacktivism '''(combination of the words '''slacker and activism) is a term which defines the current activism displayed over social media (with mediums such as Facebook , Twitter , Youtube , Instagram , Snapchat , etc.).Slacktivism can be defined as the act of showing support for a cause without putting forth much work or personal effort, while making one feel like they contributed a lot. The elements of slactivism which makes a social media campaign successful: a buy guy, an inspiring plan of action through the use of social media and an invitation to find the compassion in the viewers hearts to take action. Dictionary definition: Actions taken to bring about political or social change but requiring only minimal commitment, effort, or risk: students engaging in slacktivism by signing an online petition. 'Activities (types of slacktivism)' 'Consumerism' : The promotion of spiking the interests of consumers by influencing the purchase of objects. Slacktivism is known for using this as a way of influencing people to buy objects as a way of showing support to a cause. Meaning that when someone purchases an item some or all of the proceeds go towards the cause. 'Posting on Social media' : The idea of posting on social media is another way of promoting Slacktivism. This is done by sharing, hashtaging, twitting, rebloging, etc. online and spreading awareness through social media. 'Examples' 'KONY 2012 (The Perfect Slacktivism Campaign)' :: Opening Statement: "The KONY 2012 campaign started as an experiment. Could an online video make an obscure war criminal famous? And if he was famous, would the world work together to stop him? The experiment yielded the fastest growing viral video of all time. The KONY 2012 film reached 100 million views in 6 days, and 3.7 million people pledged their support for efforts to arrest Joseph Kony. It proved our theory that if people only knew what Kony had been getting away with, they would be as outraged as we were. But knowing is only half the battle - Joseph Kony is still out there." (Reference #1) The campaign's video possessed the perfect blend of slactivism elements needed to turn this into a good social media campaign: a clear bad guy (Kony), an inspiring plan of action through the use of social media and an invitation to find the compassion in the viewers hearts. It tapped into the common empathy of a group of people all focused on one screen, impelling them to move beyond the solitude of sitting at their computers towards telling everyone they know, sharing, and donating. The campaign was labeled as what seemed to be the most successful social media campaign. However, the campaign did have negative criticisms associated too for it was accused of engaging in the bad of "slactivism", in which one donates or takes actions that have little to no effect beyond making one feel like one contributed. The campaign encouraged slactivism activities to the viewers such as buying their Action Kits, donating, and sharing their video on social media without giving any real thought into what the campaign was about and what these actions will help. While the campaign promoted global activism, it was criticized for providing a black-and-white picture rather than encouraging the viewers to learn about the situation. (Reference #2) 'ALS Ice Bucket Challenge' ALS, or amyotrophic laterals sclerosis, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. And there was little to no knowledge of this disease; therefore, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was born. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the disease (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease) and encourage donations to research. How to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: (Reference #3) # Decide to do and accept the challenge # Gather the supplies (video recorder, bucket, water, ice, etc.) # Make the video (state the mission of the challenge and name 5 friends to do it next) # Upload the video on social media # Use the hashtags associated to the campaign (#icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge, #strikeoutals) # Tag your friends in the post # DONATE! The campaign possessed the perfect blend of slacktivism elements needed to turn this into a good social campaign: a bad guy (ALS), an inspiring plan of action through the use of social media (such as Facebook and hashtaging) and an invitation to influence viewers to get involved and spread the message. The campaign implemented the use of hashtags and the idea of assigning the supporter to do a small action, while being able to show off that they got involved and assign it their friends (through the use of video). The campaign was labeled as successful for it raised $115 million dollars and spread awareness of ALS. However, the champaign did have negative criticism associated too based on the slacktivism behind the campaign. Although the campaign was a successful social media campaign and implemented good aspects, it did get a lot of bad wrap for it's flaws. For instance, most people spent more time and money on creating a video for social media then actually getting to know about and donating to the cause. This campaign evolved into a social media fad, which made their friends pore cold water on their head then a way of helping those with ALS. '#wearyellowforseth ' About: "The story was an awareness campaign for a 5-year-old boy in England named Seth Lane, who has an immunodeficiency disorder that's commonly called "Bubble Boy Syndrome." Lane's health issue makes him incredibly susceptible to illnesses if he isn't in a completely sterile environment, which means he's spent much of his young life in the hospital. The boy was diagnosed when he was just a few months old and on March 27, he was scheduled to have a second bone marrow transplant which could help save his life. With the help of his parents, he asked people on social media to wear yellow to support him and cheer him up." (Reference #4) The cause was picked up by Snapchat, it was Snapchat's first story for a cause. The campaign possessed the perfect blend of slacktivism elements needed to turn this into a good social campaign: a bad guy (health issue), an inspiring plan of action through the use of social media (posting pictures of you wearing yellow on Snapchat with #wearyellowforseth) and an invitation to influence viewers to get involved and spread the message. With the campaign 26 million people got involved, either by sending in a Snapchat, viewing the story, or donating. Because of the social media participation on YouTube and Snapchat, the campaign was successful in participation and unexpectedly raised £29,000 ≈ $43,000. (Reference #5) Further Readings :: § http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/slacktivism/ (10+ articles on Slacktivism) § http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/03/12/does-slacktivism-work/ § http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2015/02/why-slacktivisim-matters/ Negative notations ''' *Lazy alternative to real philanthropy *Makes people feel like their contributing by doing the bear minimum *No personal depth for the cause *Social media based with no focus on underlying cause *Full of pointless activities *Expedient alternative to actually expending effort to fix a problem '''Positive notations *The internet is where today's information lives *If an issue has a significant following on social media, it will most likely gain one in the real world *Slacktivism is the simplest and quickest way to spread awareness and give donations in this day in age *Influences activism Keywords Social Media Activism Campaign Facebook Twitter Hashtag Snapchat Advocacy 'Citations' *"KONY 2012 | Invisible Children." Invisible Children KONY 2012 Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. *Bailyn, Evan. "The Difference Between Slacktivism And Activism: How 'Kony 2012' Is Narrowing The Gap." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 May 2012. Web. 10 May 2015. *"How to Do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. *Shontell, Alyson. "5-year-old Seth Lane Was Born with a Life-threatening Health Problem, and 26 Million People Have Watched His Snapchat Story."Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 May 2015. *"Snapping For a Cause: Did You Wear Yellow For Seth?" Snapping For a Cause: Did You Wear Yellow For Seth? Thescoailclinic, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.